Men Who Framed the Automotive Industry


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When God created cars,he thought that a car will be a box on 4 wheels consisting of an engine which will drive it and will be controlled by a man having a wheel in the hand.But as per a habit of God,he writes the front and last page of every book and leave it on the man to write the rest of it same he did here.He planted the idea of car somewhere in the mind of someone in the world and left it for the MAN to develop it further.
About the end,I think now he himself is so much charmed of the cars that he also do not want them to come to an end.

The man who got the idea was Karl Benz,he is known for designing the first 'modern' automobile or say the very first car in the world.
But still,this was also insufficient,first page of the book was written,but is any book complete with only one page?

Now it was the turn of various pioneers,various visionaries who wrote the rest part of this book using their long distant vision and creative minds.Now let us recite who those men are/were(I am naming quite few people and waiting for you all to help me complete the list):-

Okay,we all know that there exists a car called Maruti Suzuki 800,this is considered the 'people's car',but how many of us know about the first people's car of the world?
Now let us go back by more than half a decade in 1903 when Mr.Henry Ford laid the foundation of the Ford Motor Company and in 1908 it was his vision and determination that world's first 'people's car'-The Ford Model-T was produced,this car made the dream of owning a car come true for a lot of people and was known to be the first ever car to be gone into 'mass production'.Same way Ford was the first company to have an assembly line where components used to move instead of workers and workers used to work at their own place with components reaching them via assembly line and conveyer belts.The Model-T made the Ford largest automobile company in the world those days.

Now following the footsteps of Ford a lot of companies arisen,we will name them later with mutual co-operation.

Aerodynamics are for those who cannot build strong engines,though I am a sedan lover but still I love this quote by Mr.Enzo Ferrari,this time I'll name three men Enzo ferrari,Ferdinand Porsche and Ferruccio Lamborghini.World knew what the motorsport is and what the sport cars are,but these were the men who redefined the word sport-car from the cars they produced and even today also their cars are accepted with same level of confidence and even more fun-factor.

Though there are a lot more names but I don't remember all of them..:tongue:


To be continued...
 
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^^Thanks a lot buddy,actually since I have been writing it all myself hence I need some more time to collect info,compile it and then post it.By mistake posted the thread without preparing myself..:stupid:
 
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Very well written article Vipul great work[clap], you can do some research on Ferdinand Porsche,Giovanni Agnelli,Osama Suzuki, will give out few more names later on use Wikipedia as it will help you in collecting some basic fact's on them.
All the best i see you as a potential writer, keep up the good work.
 
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^^Thanks buddy,actually right now I am in the collecting and compiling mode.I have covered all three mentioned by you,any more names..
BTW,who is the father of Maruti 800?
I know that it was the dream project of Sanjay Gandhi,but who developed it?
 
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There are some mistakes in your write up. Do correct them before i quote them because later i wont be able to edit my posts and your post wont look that Good
 

350Z

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When God created cars,he thought that a car will be a box on 4 wheels consisting of an engine which will drive it and will be controlled by a man having a wheel in the hand.But as per a habit of God,he writes the front and last page of every book and leave it on the man to write the rest of it same he did here.He planted the idea of car somewhere in the mind of someone in the world and left it for the MAN to develop it further.
Nice write up. The history of automobiles is rather interesting. It recalled me of the early days when I used to religiously read the book “Man and the automobiles” in a library. You should also read the biography of Henry Ford. You would like it.

Drive Safe,
350Z
 
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Nice write up. The history of automobiles is rather interesting. It recalled me of the early days when I used to religiously read the book “Man and the automobiles” in a library. You should also read the biography of Henry Ford. You would like it.

Drive Safe,
350Z
+1, biography of Henry Ford is a great read, also read the book written by R.C.Bhargava on Maruti it has lot of insight's on Maruti.
 
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So let me start once again from Mr.Karl Benz:-

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Karl Benz was born on 25th November 1844 in Karlsruhe, the son of an engine driver. The middle of the last century, when Benz was an apprentice, was a time of widespread fascination with the "new technology". The first railway line in Germany from Nuremberg to Furth had been opened in 1835, only twenty years before, and in the space of just a few decades the railways, steamships and new production processes had ushered in a new era in technology, industry and everyday life. Karl Benz attended the Karlsruhe grammar school and subsequently the Karlsruhe Polytechnic. Between 1864 and 1870, he worked for a number of different firms as a draughtsman, designer and works manager before founding his first firm in 1871 in Mannheim, with August Ritter. But little money was to be made in the building materials trade and the economic convulsions of the 1870's caused difficulties for the young company. Karl Benz now turned to the two-stroke engine, in the hope of finding a new livelihood. After two years' work, his first engine finally sprang to life on New Year's Eve, 1879. He took out various patents on this machine.

Equally important were the contacts with new business associates, with whose assistance Benz founded a gas engine factory in Mannheim. But after only a short time he withdrew from this company since it did not give him a free enough hand for his technical experiments. Benz found two new partners and with them founded "Benz & Co., Rheinische Gasmotorenfabrik" in 1883 in Mannheim, a general partnership. Business was good and soon the production of industrial engines was being stepped up

With this new financial security, Karl Benz could now set about designing a "motor carriage", with an engine based on the Otto four stroke cycle. Unlike Daimler, who installed his engine in an ordinary carriage, Benz designed not only his engine, but the whole vehicle as well. On 29th January 1886, he was granted a patent on it and on 3rd July 1886, he introduced the first automobile in the world to an astonished public. In 1903, Karl Benz retired from active participation in his company. The next year however, he joined the supervisory board of Benz & Cie and he was a member of the supervisory board of Daimler-Benz AG from 1926, when the company was formed, until his death in 1929. In 1872, Karl Benz married Bertha Ringer, who was to be of major support to him in his work. The couple produced five children. Benz lived to witness the motoring boom and the definitive penetration of his idea in to everyday life. He died on 4th April 1929. The former Benz family residence in Ladenburg is now open to the public. The Daimler-Benz foundation, founded in 1986, has its registered office here.


The all time famous 'Henry Ford'

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Automobile manufacturer Henry Ford was born July 30, 1863, on his family's farm in Dearborn, Michigan. From the time he was a young boy, Ford enjoyed tinkering with machines. Farm work and a job in a Detroit machine shop afforded him ample opportunities to experiment. He later worked as a part-time employee for the Westinghouse Engine Company. By 1896, Ford had constructed his first horseless carriage which he sold in order to finance work on an improved model.

Ford incorporated the Ford Motor Company in 1903, proclaiming, "I will build a car for the great multitude." In October 1908, he did so, offering the Model T for $950. In the Model T's nineteen years of production, its price dipped as low as $280. Nearly 15,500,000 were sold in the United States alone. The Model T heralds the beginning of the Motor Age; the car evolved from luxury item for the well-to-do to essential transportation for the ordinary man.
Ford revolutionized manufacturing. By 1914, his Highland Park, Michigan plant, using innovative production techniques, could turn out a complete chassis every 93 minutes. This was a stunning improvement over the earlier production time of 728 minutes. Using a constantly-moving assembly line, subdivision of labor, and careful coordination of operations, Ford realized huge gains in productivity.

In 1914, Ford began paying his employees five dollars a day, nearly doubling the wages offered by other manufacturers. He cut the workday from nine to eight hours in order to convert the factory to a three-shift workday. Ford's mass-production techniques would eventually allow for the manufacture of a Model T every 24 seconds. His innovations made him an international celebrity.

Ford's affordable Model T irrevocably altered American society. As more Americans owned cars, urbanization patterns changed. The United States saw the growth of suburbia, the creation of a national highway system, and a population entranced with the possibility of going anywhere anytime. Ford witnessed many of these changes during his lifetime, all the while personally longing for the agrarian lifestyle of his youth. In the years prior to his death on April 7, 1947, Ford sponsored the restoration of an idyllic rural town called Greenfield Village.
 
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Goivanni Agnelli:

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The son of Edoardo Agnelli and Aniceta Frisetti, he was born in Villar Perosa, a small town near Pinerolo, Piedmont, still the main home and burial place of the Agnelli family. His father, mayor of Villar Perosa, died at age 40, when Giovanni was just five. He studied at the Collegio San Giuseppe in Turin; then embarked on a military career until 1893 when he returned to Villar Perosa, where he followed in his father's footsteps and became mayor in 1895 which he held until his death. Agnelli heard about the invention of the (then) new horseless carriage and immediately saw an opportunity for using his engineering and entrepreneurial skills. In 1898, he met Count Emanuele Bricherasio di Cacherano of Turin, who was looking for investors for his horseless carriage project; Agnelli sensed the opportunity.

On 11 July 1899 he was part of the group of founding members of the Fabbrica Italiana di Automobili Torino, which became Fiat; he paid $400 for his share in 1899, worth billions today.One year later he was the managing director of the new company and became the chairman in 1920. The first Fiat plant opened in 1900 with 35 staff making 24 cars. Known from the beginning for the talent and creativity of its engineering staff; by 1903 Fiat made a small profit and produced 135 cars; this grew to 1,149 cars by 1906. The company then went public selling shares via the Milan stock exchange. Agnelli began purchasing all the shares he could adding to his holding, overcoming scandals and labour problems. After World War I the company jumped from 30th to third place among Italian industrial companies. The first Ford factory was opened four years after Fiat was founded and already in 1906 a first Fiat car dealer in US was established, in Manhattan, Broadway. He was appointed a Senator in 1923, and filled several other prestigious positions between the two wars. Agnelli remained focused and propelled Fiat to the international arena. He was still active with FIAT at the start of the Second World War, and died soon after it ended in 1945 at age 79.

Louis Chevrolet:-


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Swiss-born Louis Chevrolet (1878-1941) was a racer, mechanic and pioneering engineer. William C. “Billy” Durant (1861-1947) was a visionary automotive marketer. Durant founded General Motors in 1908, as Chevrolet’s reputation as daring driver — he established a land-speed record in 1905, attaining 111 mph in special open race car — continued to grow. Durant hired Chevrolet for high-profile races and promotional drives.
In 1910, Durant was forced from the company he founded, but wouldn’t be deterred from the burgeoning auto industry. He regrouped with other partners, including Chevrolet, to develop a new car. Durant believed Chevrolet’s reputation as a racer would help sell the car, so it was named for him. The Chevrolet company was founded in 1911 and its first car, the Series C Classic Six, was a large, finely crafted motorcar. Its large, 4.9L (299 cubic inches) six-cylinder engine produced 40 horsepower and enabled a top speed of about 65 mph. It sold for $2,150 or the equivalent of nearly $50,000 today, when adjusted for inflation.

Durant left General Motors in 1920. He established another car company and became a prominent Wall Street investor. The stock market crash of 1929 proved fatal for both endeavors. He was bankrupt by 1936. He died in 1947 and was buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, New York.
Louis Chevrolet also lost his fortune during the Great Depression. He returned to his vocational skills and worked as a mechanic at a Chevrolet factory in Detroit. He died in 1941 and was buried in Indianapolis, near the famous speedway where he forged his reputation as a fearless racer and innovator.
 
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August Horch:-
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August Horch worked for Karl Benz for several years, rising to become factory manager at early automaker Benz & Company. In 1899 he established his own business, August Horch & Company, which had success for several years as a niche maker of technically advanced cars, including Germany's first vehicle with a four-cycle engine. In 1904 he took his business public, a move he later regretted, as stockholders voted him out of the company's presidency when sales slumped. In 1910 he founded a new company, Horch Automobile Works, which led to an immediate lawsuit alleging trademark infringement filed by Horch's first company. A court subsequently ruled that Horch & Company owned the rights to August Horch's name, so he renamed his second company Audi, a Latin translation of Horch, which literally means "hark". He retired in 1920, and died 30 years later. In 1932 Audi was merged with three other automakers (including Horch & Co.) to form Auto Union of Saxonian Motor Vehicle Builders, the corporate forebear of Audi AG, which is now a subsidiary of Volkswagen. The Auto Union nameplate was discontinued after 1964, but Auto Union's logo -- four interlocking rings to represent its four interlocked companies -- remains the nameplate on present-day Audi vehicles.


Enzo Ferrari:-
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Born in Modena, Italy, Ferrari grew up with little formal education but a strong desire to race cars. At the age of 10 and seeing 1908 Circuit di Bologna, he decided to become a driver of race cars. During World War I he was assigned to the third Alpine Artillery division of the Italian Army. His father Alfredo, as well as his older brother, also named Alfredo, died in 1916 as a result of a widespread Italian flu outbreak. Ferrari became severely ill himself in the 1918 flu pandemic and was consequently discharged from Italian service. Upon returning home he found that the family firm had collapsed.
Having no other job prospects, Ferrari eventually settled for a job at a smaller car company called CMN (Costruzioni Meccaniche Nazionali), redesigning used truck bodies into small passenger cars. He took up racing in 1919 on the CMN team, but had little initial success.
He left CMN in 1920 to work at Alfa Romeo and racing their cars in local races he had more success. In 1923, racing in Ravenna, he acquired the Prancing Horse badge which decorated the fuselage of Francesco Baracca's (Italy's leading ace of WWI) SPAD S.XIII fighter, given from his mother, taken from the wreckage of the plane after his mysterious death. This icon would have to wait until 1932 to be displayed on a racing car.
In 1924 Ferrari won the Coppa Acerbo at Pescara. His successes in local races encouraged Alfa to offer him a chance of much more prestigious competition. Ferrari turned this opportunity down and did not race again until 1927. He continued to work directly for Alfa Romeo until 1929 before starting Scuderia Ferrari as the racing team for Alfa.
Ferrari managed the development of the factory Alfa cars, and built up a team of over forty drivers, including Giuseppe Campari and Tazio Nuvolari. Ferrari himself continued racing until 1932.
The support of Alfa Romeo lasted until 1933, when financial constraints made Alfa withdraw. Only at the intervention of Pirelli did Ferrari receive any cars at all. Despite the quality of the Scuderia drivers, the company won few victories. Auto Union and Mercedes dominated the era, but Ferrari achieved a notable victory when Tazio Nuvolari beat them on their home turf at the German Grand Prix in 1935.
In 1937 Alfa took control of its racing efforts again, reducing Ferrari to Director of Sports under Alfa's engineering director. Ferrari soon left, but a contract clause restricted him from racing or designing cars for four years.
In response, Ferrari organized Auto-Avio Costruzioni, a company supplying parts to other racing teams. Ferrari did manage to manufacture two cars for the 1940 Mille Miglia, driven by Alberto Ascari and Lotario Rangoni. During World War II his firm was forced to undertake war production for Mussolini's fascist government. Following Allied bombing of the factory, Ferrari relocated from Modena to Maranello. It was not until after World War II that Ferrari could start making cars bearing his name, founding today's Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947.
The first open-wheel race was in Turin in 1948 and the first victory came later in the year in Lago di Garda. Ferrari participated in the Formula 1 World Championship since its introduction in 1950 but the first victory was not until the British Grand Prix of 1951. The first championship came in 1952–53, with Alberto Ascari. The company also sold production sports cars in order to finance the racing endeavours not only in Grands Prix but also in events such as the Mille Miglia and Le Mans.
Ferrari's decision to continue racing in the Mille Miglia brought the company new victories and greatly increased public recognition. However, increasing speeds, poor roads, and nonexistent crowd protection eventually spelled disaster for both the race and Ferrari. During the 1957 Mille Miglia, near the town of Guidizzolo, a 4.0-litre Ferrari 335S driven by the flamboyant Alfonso de Portago was traveling at 250 km/h when it blew a tire and crashed into the roadside crowd, killing de Portago, his co-driver, and nine spectators, including five children. In response, Enzo Ferrari and Englebert, the tyre manufacturer, were charged with manslaughter in a lengthy criminal prosecution that was finally dismissed in 1961.
Many of the firm's greatest victories came at Le Mans (14 victories, including six in a row 1960–65) and in Formula One during the 1950s and 1960s, with the successes of Juan-Manuel Fangio (1956), Mike Hawthorn (1958), Phil Hill (1961) and John Surtees (1964).
In 1969 the problems of reduced demand and inadequate financing forced Ferrari to allow Fiat to take a stake in the company. Ferrari had previously offered Ford the opportunity to buy the firm in 1963 for US$18 million but, late in negotiations, Ferrari withdrew once he realised that he wouldn't have been able to retain control of the company sporting program. Ferrari became joint-stock and Fiat took a small share in 1965 and then in 1969 they increased their holding to 50% of the company. (In 1988 Fiat's holding rose to 90%).
In 1974 Ferrari nominated Luca Cordero di Montezemolo sporting director. Niki Lauda won the championship in 1975 and 1977. After those successes and another title for Jody Scheckter in 1979, the company's Formula One championship hopes fell into the doldrums.
1982 opened with a strong car, the 126C2, world-class drivers, and promising results in the early races. However, Gilles Villeneuve was killed in the 126C2 in May, and teammateDidier Pironi had his career cut short in a violent end over end flip on the misty back straight at Hockenheim in August. Pironi was leading the driver's championship at the time; he would lose the lead as he sat out the remaining races. Ferrari remained chairman of the company until his death in 1988 but the team would not see championship glory again during his lifetime.
 
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Ferdinand Porsche:-
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Ferdinand Porsche was born in a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that is now in the Czech Republic. His only training as an engineer came in night courses at Vienna Technical University, but he became a legendary figure among German engineers. At Lohner, a company that manufactured separate gas- and electric-powered automobiles in the late 1800s, Porsche designed the first gas-electric hybrid vehicle, which was marketed as the Lohner-Porsche. He was later the primary designer of the Landwehr train, a four-wheel drive vehicle with motors at each wheel, used to provide supplies for German forces in World War I. For his work on the train he was given an honorary doctorate in 1917 from Vienna Technical University (the same school where he had attended night classes years earlier) and thereafter he answered to "Doctor Porsche" or "The Professor".
In 1931 he opened his own engineering business, and in 1934 he was approached by the Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, who asked him to design the bubble-bodied "people's car" that became the Volkswagen Type 1, now commonly called the Beetle or Bug. Charged with building a fuel-efficient and affordable car for the masses, Dr Porsche's design borrowed heavily from earlier work by other designers, but the original Beetle is usually credited to Porsche. He began building Volkswagen prototypes in 1937, but when Hitler's armies invaded Poland the factory was converted to building military vehicles, after only a few dozen VWs had been constructed. Porsche was deeply involved in the design of Nazi Germany's Tiger I, Tiger II, Panzer and Elefant military tanks, and his factories used forced labor. After the war he was imprisoned for twenty months in an allied prison for his support of the Nazi regime.
When Volkswagens went into mass-production in 1945, the factory was managed by occupation forces from England, and neither Porsche nor his company was directly involved. He was freed in August 1947, and in 1948 his company began manufacturing the Porsche 356. Designed by Porsche's son Ferry but largely modeled on his father's original Beetle, early 356s were hand-built, and were the first cars bearing the Porsche nameplate. Porsche suffered poor health during and after his imprisonment, and died in 1951 after a series of strokes.

These were some names from the west,now let's go towards the east-Japan..
 
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Kiichiro Toyoda:-
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Kiichiro Toyoda was the son of famed inventor and entrepreneur Sakichi Toyoda, and the driving force behind establishment of Toyota Motor Corporation. As a young man he studied engineering at the University of Tokyo, then traveled to England, where he worked at Platt Brothers and Company, a leading manufacturer of textile machinery. He later came to the United States, where he studied American manufacturing techniques. After returning to Japan he worked at his father's loom-making business, Toyoda Industries Corporation, where he engineered improvements to the looms' high-draft spinning frames, and patented a carding machine. He began his research into automotives by dismantling and reassembling an imported motorcycle, and briefly considered the feasibility of a charcoal-powered engine.
After his father's death, he convinced Toyoda Industries' new president, his adoptive brother Risaburo Toyoda, to fund research into auto-making. Kiichiro Toyoda purchased a new Chevrolet and brought in several of Japan's top engineers to disassemble and reassemble it. By 1934 Toyoda and his team had designed and built their first gasoline-powered engine, and convinced stockholders to fully fund his new division. In 1935 Toyoda built the prototype for its first car, combining Japanese components with Ford and Chevy parts under a Chrysler body to construct what they called Model A1. According to legend, Kiichiro Toyoda drove the prototype to his father's gravesite, to show what he had accomplished.
Toyoda vehicles were manufactured beginning in July 1935, and in 1936 the spelling of the nameplate was altered from Toyoda to Toyota, as Toyoda himself believed the new name was easier to pronounce (the family name, when presented in English, remains Toyoda). The auto division was quickly successful and was spun off as a separate business, the Toyota Motor Corporation, in 1937, with Toyoda as Vice President. He became president in 1941, but in 1950, with the business near bankruptcy in Japan's post-war recession, Toyota Motor Corp announced massive layoffs and its workers went on strike. To settle the strike, Toyoda and other top executives tendered their resignations, and Toyoda died two years later.



Soichiro Honda.
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Bored with formal education, Soichiro Honda barely finished high school and immediately went to work as an apprentice auto mechanic. Because he was only 16 years old, he was required to spend the first year of his apprenticeship as a nanny for the shop owner's family. In his early 20s Honda opened his own garage, where in 1938 he perfected a method for casting a perfect piston ring, and began selling the rings to Toyota. He soon needed a new factory to meet rising demand, but cement was unavailable due to pre-war materials shortages, so he improvised a formula to make his own cement. After the war, as fuel shortages loomed, he sold the piston business to Toyota and started the Honda Motor Company in 1948, making small, fuel-efficient engines. His first Honda motorcycles were ordinary pedal-powered bicycles augmented by his two-stroke engine, but sales were brisk and Honda soon designed and began manufacturing his own motorcycles. In 1958 Honda's company became Japan's best-selling motorcycle brand, and the following year Honda began exporting motorcycles to America. His interest in motorcycles was not merely a commercial concern -- before and after the war, Honda was an avid amateur motorcycle race driver who racked up frequent victories.
Beginning in 1956, Honda sought to go into the automaking business, but Japan's powerful Ministry of Trade and Industry had a long-term plan for the nation's auto industry, which did not include any late-blooming competitors. He was unpopular with Japan's bureaucracy, probably for his outspoken admiration of American business practices and his policy of promoting employees based on merit, not merely age, as was the practice at other Japanese companies. The required permits were withheld for ten years, until Honda was finally allowed to manufacture a small number of autos in 1966. Honda's cars were slow-sellers both in Japan and abroad, until new regulations from America's Environmental Protection Agency forced Honda's competitors to add anti-pollution devices to their vehicles, while Honda's tiny CVCC model met all the new EPA requirements without needing any modifications. Honda began importing its CVCC (the Civic) to America in 1972, to slow but steadily increasing sales. The company added its more upscale Accord in 1976 and Acura in 1986. Concerned that America might raise taxes on imports, in 1979 Honda became the first Japanese manufacturer to open a factory in America. It was one of the last of the company's big ideas that came from Honda himself -- he had retired in 1973, but remained with the company as "senior consultant" until his death in 1991.
 
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Masujiro Hashimoto:-
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Masujiro Hashimoto was a mechanical engineer who was sent by Japan's Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce to study manufacturing in America, where he spent three years working for a New York manufacturer of steam engines. After returning to Japan, he held a succession of jobs -- electrical engineering, manufacturing machine guns, and designing coal mining equipment. In June 1911, he established Kaishinsha Jidosha Koto (Kwaishinsha Motor Car Works), the forerunner of today's Nissan Motors.
The company had three main financial backers: business manager Kenjiro Den, childhood friend Rokuro Aoyama, and well-connected financier Meitaro Takeuchi, and from their initials the company's first cars were called DATs. The ten-horsepower DAT 31 was introduced in 1914, and the DAT 41, introduced in 1916, became the company's early best-seller. Kwaishinsha Motor Car Works was renamed DAT Motor Vehicle Company in 1917, and the company's cars bore the name Datson (or, in America, Datsun) -- originally an affectionate nickname for DAT -- until 1983. Hashimoto was squeezed out in a reorganization in 1931, and almost nothing is known about his life after leaving the auto business. Two years after he left the firm, DAT merged with Nihon Sangyo Co., and the united company took its new name -- Nissan -- from Ni-San, which had been Nihon's symbol on the Japanese stock exchange.

Here comes the end of first part-The founders..
Though I have missed a lot of names in this looooonnnnng list,but still if you guys feel then you can notify me the name and I'll add it here.

Second,third and fourth part will come soon..

  • Second part:Men who shaped these companies.
  • Third part:Current icons and their creations.
  • Fourth part:Indian automotive scene.
 

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